The Invisible Woman
by clagjanet
Summary: Not everyone at IFF is a spy, but that doesn't mean you're not being watched.


The disclaimer: None of these characters belong to me; they belong to Shoot the Moon Enterprises and Warner Bros to whom I am eternally grateful for the opportunity to take them out for a spin and bit of light humour.

Author's Note: Yes, I know in the early episodes the lobby was empty, but that makes very little sense and I am attributing it to show budget reasons and the fact they didn't use the foyer as much early on. Come on, IFF didn't suddenly decide after 40 years they should have a receptionist, right? So her desk must have been just out of sight in those shots.

.

 **The Invisible Woman**

Mavis Marston had liked Amanda King from the first time she'd met her. She'd been startled by the sound of upraised voices approaching the front door that day in October and had opened her desk in preparation to use the gun kept hidden there but to her surprise, when the door opened, it had been Lee Stetson backing his way through the door followed by a slight brunette who was poking her finger repeatedly into his chest and talking without ever pausing for breath, as he attempted to simultaneously drag her into the lobby and fend off that poking finger.

"You got me _arrested_ , Lee Stetson! _Arrested_! You drag me off in the middle of the night to commit a felony and I end up getting _arrested_! I have gone my whole life without getting so much as a parking ticket and now, within four days of meeting you, no, not even meeting you, just bumping into you, you have managed to get me involved in damage to city property that closed down Massachusetts Avenue for hours and now I have been arrested for interfering with the US Mail. Do you know what kind of record I'm going to have? Interfering with the US Mail? How am I supposed to explain that to my mother and children?"

Mavis couldn't believe all of that had come out in what appeared to be a single breath. She stared at the couple, neither of whom had acknowledged her presence yet. Finally Scarecrow had managed to seize that poking finger in one hand and grab the woman's lower arm with his other and had interrupted her long enough to shout "A-man-da! You will not have a police record! We have ways of making stuff like that disappear"

"Really? Really?" This Amanda-woman's voice had gotten progressively louder and squeakier with every reiteration of the word "You can make stuff 'disappear'? You know, you are dangerously close to sounding more like a Nazi than a spy, Mr. Stetson!"

And then the most extraordinary thing happened - he'd laughed. It had bubbled up out of him without warning, but he had definitely stood there holding onto the woman's arms and laughing. It had been months since Mavis had seen anything more from Lee Stetson that a polite smile that didn't ever quite reach his eyes, but somehow for the first time since Eric has been killed, this woman had made Scarecrow _laugh_.

He'd finally stopped long enough to lean in and say to the woman "Look, trust me, just one more time, please. You've trusted me up to now, right?" The woman had nodded slowly, a slightly doubtful expression on her face. "Ok, now I just need you to come downstairs and meet my boss and we'll get this all straightened out and you can go back to your nice normal life in the suburbs and I can get un-suspended, ok?" He waited for her to nod again, and then he had turned, finally, towards the reception desk, polite smile back in place.

"Good morning Mrs. Marston. The password today is 'Cowboy'. This is Amanda King and she'll be needing a guest pass please. Mr. Melrose is expecting us."

The woman had smiled at her, a real smile, nothing like the charmer smile Scarecrow was currently using and murmured politely "Good morning. I'm so sorry if we bothered you with that" as she waved a hand between herself and Scarecrow and with that he had grabbed the two passes and dragged her into the elevator, overriding her protests about it being a closet by repeating "Just trust me, will ya?"

It had been less than an hour later that they had come back up the elevator. Amanda had walked briskly towards the door "Well it's been fun Mr. Stetson. Next time you want to break into a post office, make sure not to call me." She handed Mavis her guest pass. "Thank you Mrs. Marston."

"Amanda? Aren't you forgetting something?" She'd paused at the door and lifted an eyebrow.

"Your car is still parked over by the D Street Post Office. I'll give you a ride back there."

"You can just call me a cab."

Scarecrow had grinned just for a second at the old joke and Mavis had felt her own lips twitch. "No, come on, let me give you a ride. I think I've inconvenienced you enough over the last few days."

He'd taken her arm and led her back out onto the street. Mavis had not expected to see this charming civilian again, but she could not have been more wrong.

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**SMK**SMK**SMK**SMK**SMK**SMK**SMK**SMK**

The next few years had been nothing if not entertaining. It had taken Amanda months to get used to having to remember the daily password, but in that time she had worked magic on Lee Stetson. Mavis heard the stories around the coffee station at first about how annoyed Scarecrow was with Billy for foisting this housewife on him, but what she saw told a different tale. Under Mrs King's influence, he was more relaxed and more likely to have a genuine smile on his face as he came through the foyer as if he really looked like he was enjoying going to work and no one could deny their solve rate.

She began to look forward to hearing their arguments as they passed through on their way in and out of the building. There were generally two types of those: ones where Scarecrow was genuinely exasperated with Mrs. King and ones where the dimples and the laugh lines around his eyes told her he was enjoying the fight as they walked through the lobby, his hand resting in the small of Amanda's back. She learned to recognize the specific speed with which Scarecrow would burst out of the elevator, tossing his badge on the desk as he ran out without speaking, and then return later with Amanda in tow, usually in the full throes of one of their "discussions" about whatever she'd landed herself in. For obvious reasons, she never found out the details of their cases but she learned to dread the return of that closed expression on his face when his housewife-partner landed in serious trouble, and occasionally that same expression on Amanda's when an argument or a cover had gone too far.

It was Mavis who had taken the envelope from Amanda with what she'd suspected was a resignation letter for Mr. Melrose that morning a few years ago and it was Mavis who had been careful to pass it on to Scarecrow with a request to deliver it. She'd watched his face when he looked at it and then carefully tucked it in his jacket pocket before absentmindedly thanking her and disappearing into the elevator. Neither of them ever knew that she had originally given it to Billy and he had read it and handed it back, saying "Ask Scarecrow to pass this to me later. Let's see if he's smart enough not to have to." She was relieved that it turned out to have been the right thing to do when the pair of them obviously got back on their old terms, the only noticeable difference being another improvement in Scarecrow's behaviour.

She knew from trips downstairs on her coffee breaks that the rumour mill was now swirling about a possible romantic involvement between them, but she could tell better than most that however quirky this friendship was between the agent and the housewife, it had not yet tipped over into a romance. She got to observe them, however briefly, during those periods of the day when they considered themselves to be essentially free of watching eyes and their conversations were more unguarded and often personal. Sometimes it didn't hurt to be the almost invisible woman, especially one who get her observations to herself.

She tried very hard to remain the intimidating guardian of the IFF but it was almost impossible in the face of Amanda's considerate nature. There was the regular arrival of baked goods, always with a portion set aside for her in case she didn't make it downstairs for coffee break and the small boxes of European chocolates that came back from Amanda's courier runs to Germany. Then there was the morning she arrived after the end of Operation Possum and found Amanda arguing with the men moving the furniture back into the foyer that they were absolutely not to put anything back down before they had cleaned the floors of all the dust and dirt that had accumulated behind the heavy furniture over the years. Mavis had just sat back and watched with amusement as they tried to argue with her and then eventually backed down and went to fetch mops and brooms. She'd known Amanda would win that argument – if Lee Stetson had been unable to withstand that force of nature, how could these unsuspecting men have any hope at all?

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The promotion to the Q Bureau for Lee had brought a whole new liveliness to Mavis Marston's daily routine. Now separated by several floors, the team of Scarecrow and Mrs. King were to be found passing through the foyer far more regularly than before, and with the added bonus – for Mavis – that the flight of stairs to his office gave her even longer snippets of conversation to listen to.

It had also had an unforeseen side-effect of exposing her to the sense of humour hidden under the sweet exterior of the Arlington housewife. She had laughed out loud the day she had arrived to find a small box on her desk addressed to "My comrade in small arms" and a souvenir medal inside inscribed "For excellence in broad-side of a barn marksmanship, 0/32." When she'd thanked Amanda the next day as they passed through, she heard Lee ask what that was all about and Amanda answering "Need to know, Scarecrow. Need to know."

She had watched as Amanda's unfailing good humour made her appreciated by everyone, not just herself. Billy had been in the foyer the day they'd arrived back from what had seemed like a routine fact-finding mission , covered almost head to toe with what appeared to be red wine.

"My God, what happened to you two? Are you alright?" he'd asked in a concerned tone and Amanda's reply had simply been to laugh and say "Well, you know what Lee's like, sir, he sure knows how to give a girl a good time!"

As Scarecrow and Mrs. King had disappeared up the stairs to the Q Bureau, Billy had turned to her, shaking his head and said in a confiding tone "I've seen Francine Desmond throw a bigger hissy fit over a run in her stocking than Amanda King does over, well, over anything!" She could only nod in agreement.

It was hard to believe that this sunny disposition could hold up in the face of their next adventure but somehow it had.

Mavis' post at the office crossroads meant that when word went out of missing agents not long after, it was obvious to her who it was because the Q Bureau remained empty. The orange file folder on her desk only confirmed it. This was the folder that with the instructions every agent in the building received when agents went missing in the event they were contacted with the key words to listen for in any phone call or message received at the Agency. When Donna had called her from the bullpen to tell her that they had been brought into the medical centre downstairs, stinking of swamp after being on the run from terrorists all night, she fully expected to see an exhausted and bedraggled pair of agents. Instead the elevator door opened to deliver an Amanda King who, while definitely exhausted and looking the worse for wear, was beaming from ear to ear and laughing at some joke only she knew.

Mavis couldn't resist: "Has Mr. Stetson been showing you a good time again, dear?"

Amanda had paused in her dash for the front door and given off a peal of laughter as she grasped the doorknob. "Not exactly, Mrs. Marston!" For some reason this had made her laugh even harder as she whisked herself out the door.

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"My two small boys will have to auction off their tiny goldfish!"

Mavis had to hand it to Amanda. In the history of the arguments she'd listened to them have by her desk, this might have been her favourite Amanda speech ever. Lee had obviously been counting on charming his way out of neglecting to pick her up that morning, but Mavis had seen his face when Amanda had pulled out the bug guns: Philip and Jamie. He might have been forgiven if he had inconvenienced only her but the second she'd mentioned the boys, the guilt on his face made it was clear he knew he was in more trouble than he'd realized, and felt worse. She'd been unable to smother her own smile when he'd offered to co-sign a loan for his partner and it was obvious he'd even managed to surprise Amanda. She had swiveled to look at Mavis as if she was looking for confirmation that she'd heard him right and then her face had lit up when she realized she had. That wasn't Mavis' favourite part though. That moment came when Amanda had refused to completely let him off the hook and had teased him all the way up the stairs about the lipstick on his face while he had been reduced to babbling excuses for it.

Looking back later, she thought that may have been when the tide really turned on the relationship between the two friends. The loan agreement had been the subtle shift when it was apparent that Lee Stetson was intending to have Amanda in his life for the long haul. That was certainly when she began noticing the little signs that made the summer of 1986 so much fun for an almost invisible woman. Everyone downstairs began to comment on how their friendship had cooled off noticeably and many prophesied their partnership was over. Donna told her that they were never seen together downstairs unless they had been specifically summoned. They never sat near each other in meetings, they never took lunch at the same time, and there were rumours that they were both seeing people outside of the office. Money had even changed hands as old bets were paid off over whether the two of them would ever get together.

Mavis, however, knew better. Her vantage point meant that she heard the laughter coming from Lee's office when they were alone together up there. She heard the warmth in his voice when he talked to Amanda and the unguarded expressions on their faces when they looked at each other. She knew that Billy Melrose was aware of it too, from the way he smiled and winked at her whenever he came downstairs from the Q Bureau. The act they were playing in front of everyone else must have been convincing however, because she and Billy were the only people who hadn't been surprised when Amanda had left her whole life behind to follow Lee into deep cover when Stemwinder hit the fan. Even so, that had been the most shaken she'd ever seen Billy in the twenty-plus years she'd known him. He'd come back from interviewing Amanda's mother and had flopped down in the chair beside her desk.

"You know, I spent three years hoping Scarecrow would calm down with Amanda in his life and I never imagined for one minute, she'd be the one who got reckless enough to do this."

"Do you think any of it is true?"

"No, but Doctor Smyth isn't listening to reason and it's obvious there are more players in this than we'd realized." He sighed and got back on his feet. "And now I have to go downstairs and organize a manhunt for them. Wish me luck."

"Would you take it personally if I didn't?

Despite everything, Billy had managed to laugh at her response "Not at all, Mavis. Not at all."

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Weeks later, Mavis arrived at work, noticing immediately that the night desk officer was looking particularly serious. "Full scale alert, I'm afraid. Everyone's in the building today. This one's bad" he sighed as he motioned to the orange file folder on the desk as he stood up to make way for her. She slid quickly into her chair to flip it open to read the instructions and her heart dropped.

"Agent taken. BOLO for courier and telephone messages, suspicious visitors or other traffic. Be prepared to respond immediately to code 'Pilot".

"Key words: Stetson, Lee, Scarecrow, King, Amanda Birol, Addi, Nightcrawler"

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. It didn't seem possible that after all that Stemwinder trouble just a few months ago that Scarecrow and his Mrs. King could be facing such serious trouble again. She realized that she didn't actually know which of them or even if both had been taken. She quickly slid the desk drawer open to see whose personnel badges were still there which would tell her who was not currently in the building, but as she did so, she heard the elevator arrive and looked up to see who was arriving. The door opened and as she watched Lee Stetson push the coats aside and emerge into the lobby, she looked up and for the first time, really understood what made Lee Stetson such an effective agent. It was as if someone had just loosed an angry panther into the lobby. She hoped the frisson of fear she felt didn't reveal itself in her expression – she hadn't seen that look on his face for six years, not since – well, she'd hoped never to see that look again.

"Good morning Mrs. Marston. How are you?" he asked robotically. She could almost have wept then. In all her years at this desk, Lee Stetson had always taken his badge with a smile of acknowledgement but it had taken Amanda to train him to say good morning and greet her with some form of personal acknowledgement, "like a normal person". How many times had she heard her tease him about that?

She waved her hand towards the file folder on her desk. "You'll find her" she heard herself saying.

His eyes came briefly to life then. "Yes I will" he said and turned away again towards the stairs.

She watched him disappear upstairs to the Q Bureau. All was quiet for a moment or two and then the hairs on the back of her neck stood up as a noise like a wounded animal came keening through the air register behind her desk, followed by the sounds of breaking glass and crashing furniture, all of it telling the tale of a man systematically tearing his office apart.

She looked down at the open badge drawer and stared at the only badge it contained, the smiling face of Amanda King looking back at her.

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**SMK**SMK**SMK**SMK**SMK**SMK**SMK**SMK**

It was a full five days later that she heard a sound she had begun to think she would never hear again. Everyone in the Agency had been on alert the day before that there had been a break in the Birol case and she had watched on the security cameras as agents and vehicles had piled out of the underground garage and sped off and then returned a few hours later. The Georgetown foyer had stayed quiet all day after that with no one wanting to leave the office, until there was more news. Eventually it had filtered through the grapevine that both Scarecrow and Mrs. King had been rescued from Birol, but with all the main participants behind the closed doors of the NEST centre, no one was certain in what state they'd been found. Now most of the morning of a second day had passed and Mavis had still heard alarmingly little. She was just telling herself for the twentieth time not to give into the temptation to call Donna in the bullpen and look for news, when she heard it. She began to smile as, over the hum of the arriving elevator, she realized she could hear the welcome sound of Lee Stetson and Amanda King arguing. The door opened and the pair of them burst out, Amanda leading and Lee holding her arm as if he was trying to stop her from going any further.

"A-man-da! You are supposed to be resting! You were supposed to get off at the garage level and let Fielder drive us both home. You are not supposed to be roaming around the building and stopping to visit at every other desk. Now let's head out that door and let Fred pick us up outside!"

"Lee, you are being ridiculous. I have literally been underground for a week. I need to be moving and I need to go outside and breathe fresh air and go to Marvellous Marvin's for a milkshake. Dr. McJohn said I was fine to be up and moving around and to leave the building and I just want to go get my purse out of the office because I am going to need my keys and good morning Mrs. Marston how are you?" The last part was said all in a rush as Amanda paused to smile at her. She looked like she'd lost weight, which she couldn't really spare, and there were still shadows under her eyes, but the smile was genuine. "I'm afraid I don't know today's password. I've been…" she paused, looking for the right word. "Away" she finished quietly.

"Good morning Mrs. King, I'm fine." She stopped herself from adding her habitual "how are you?" before continuing. "I don't believe we've had time to tell you today's password but I don't think it matters this time." Amanda smiled shyly in acknowledgement of the unusual circumstances.

As they'd talked, Lee had moved around behind Amanda and was now standing between her and the staircase to the Q Bureau. "I'll go up and get your purse. You wait here."

Amanda laughed as she tried to move past him up the stairs. "So we've moved from stay-in-the-car to stay-in-the-lobby? Don't be so silly. I am not fragile. I am perfectly capable of walking up a flight of stairs and picking up a purse." Lee continued to try and block her and when he looked at Mrs. Marston with desperation, she realized why he was trying to keep her from going to the office.

"Oh, Mrs. King, I haven't had a chance to apologize, but when I was last in your office to deliver the mail last week, I accidentally knocked over one of your plants and broke the pot. I've repotted it for you, but since I had to clean up after that, I took the opportunity to tidy up your desk a bit, Mr. Stetson."

In fact, it had taken her and Ragmop over two hours to put the Q Bureau back together after Lee's rage-fuelled destruction of almost a week before. As he stared at her, hope dawning on his face, Amanda ducked under his arm and jogged up the stairs. With a final look towards her, he'd turned and dashed up the stairs after Amanda. They re-emerged a few minutes later, Amanda now carrying the purse she had left there so many days before and Lee looking relieved.

"Thank you for looking after the plants, Mrs. Marston" Amanda had beamed at her as they reached the bottom of the stairs. Lee was close behind, guiding her towards the door, his right hand in the small of Amanda's back, his left hand gripping her left arm as if he was afraid she might vanish if he didn't hold onto her.

"Yes, thank you Mrs. Marston," he'd added as they walked and then pausing at the door to the street, he'd glanced up at the door that led to the Q Bureau and added "for everything."

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Something had definitely happened while they were out that morning. When they had left earlier, their conversation had been serious and professional but the mood on their return was far more sombre. Whatever it was, it wasn't a disagreement between them because Scarecrow's hand was still resting in the small of her back and they were walking close together.

They passed her silently, accepting their passes and then pausing at the elevator door. As it arrived, she heard Scarecrow sigh and say "I'll go let Billy know what we learned from Kai's wife. I'll be back upstairs in a bit." As Amanda had turned and walked up the stairs deep in thought, Mavis wondered if either would ever realize they had kissed goodbye at the elevator in front of her.

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What she heard first was the bellow of outrage and then the shriek of laughter from upstairs. For several seconds, everything was quiet and then came the sounds of footsteps running down the upper hallway at high speed. The door at the top of the stairs flew open and Amanda burst through, stopping dead on the landing as she met Mavis' startled look. She slowly pulled the door shut behind her, although not without a quick glance back down the hall as if she expected someone to be behind her. She then jogged down the stairs, lips pressed together in an expression of suppressed mirth before heading to the fake closet door.

"Mrs. Marston? If Mr. Stetson is looking for me, would you let him know I've gone ahead to the morning staff meeting? I expect he'll be along shortly but he's been delayed." A bark of laughter escaped her then and with one quick glance back up the stairs, she vanished into the elevator.

It was at least five minutes later that Lee had appeared and run down the stairs, two at a time. Mavis noted with some amusement that he had changed shirts from what he'd arrived in that morning and the hair around his face appeared to be damp. However, it was what she saw as he turned to face the elevator that made her call his name.

"Mr. Stetson, could you come here for a moment please?"

He turned and gestured towards the elevator door. "I'm sorry Mrs. Marston, but I'm quite late for the morning meeting. Can it wait?" He looked surprised at her emphatic "No" in response.

He walked back towards her desk and looked even more surprised when she gestured towards the chair nearby. "Sit". He sat. Mavis picked up the phone and dialled an internal number. "Donna, could you let Mr. Melrose know Mr. Stetson has been delayed helping me with something and will be late for the meeting? Thank you."

By this time, Lee was looking understandably confused, and began to get back up off his chair. "Mr. Stetson, you know I have a gun in my desk and very bad aim. Please sit down." He grinned and sank back in the chair, hazel eyes twinkling at her.

"What can I do for you, Mrs. Marston?"

"Mr. Stetson, how long have you worked here?"

"14 years" he answered promptly

"And how long have I worked here?"

"Ahhh, no idea. Longer than me though."

"Indeed. So you and I both know I have seen and heard a lot of things during that time."

Lee shifted in his chair, not sure where this was headed, but agent mask starting to slip over his face.

"Okaaay"

"And in all that time, do you know I've only had one favourite agent?"

He couldn't help laughing a bit at the unexpectedness of her comment.

"Is that so?"

"Oh yes indeed. Amanda King has been an almost constant delight from the first day you dragged her through here after getting her arrested for interfering with the US mail."

Whatever he'd been expecting her to say, it wasn't that. He leaned back and looked at her speculatively.

"Well I'm not going to disagree with you there, Mrs. Marston."

"Nor should you disagree with me, when I tell you that you have also been nicer to be around since she joined us."

Lee was looking more and more uncomfortable with this conversation. "So what is it that you wanted me to help you with Mrs. Marston?"

"I need you to rearrange some furniture in your office."

"Excuse me?"

"Have you noticed this foyer is very cold, Mr. Stetson?"

"I hadn't but now that you mention it, yes, it is." He looked around and noticed the shuttered air register behind her desk. "Did you know that was closed? You'd be warmer with it open."

"Yes, I would and that's why I need you to rearrange the furniture in your office again." She met his questioning look and continued. "As you know, this is the old part of the building and the only heat we get is from these vents." Lee nodded. "And the foyer is particularly prone to the cold during these winter months."

"Mrs. Marston, this is all very interesting but I'm not sure why you aren't just opening the vent."

"Well, did you know that this vent goes directly up the wall into your office and that since you moved the bookcase from behind Mrs. King's desk, that sound travels very clearly down the ducts?"

She began to see the rising panic in Lee's face. "So I was wondering if, for your peace of mind and my need-to-know, you could move it back so that I can open this vent with a clear conscience."

He leapt to his feet. "I'm certain we can do that Mrs. Marston. Thank you for alerting us to the problem." As he turned away towards the elevator, she couldn't resist adding "It's not a huge rush, Mr. Stetson, but perhaps you could do it before the two of you leave on your honeymoon. February is such a cold month in Washington."

He stopped dead in his tracks and turned slowly to look at her. "Excuse me?"

"Oh and Mr. Stetson? That's not the only reason I asked you to sit down here for a moment."

Real panic had now overtaken his ability to try and shield his emotions behind his agent mask. "There's something else?"

By now she could no longer restrain herself from laughing as she opened her desk drawer and yanked a tissue from the box she kept there and held it out to him. "No. The real reason I stopped you is so that you didn't go into your meeting with that cake icing behind your left ear."

Lee took the tissue she held out and carefully wiped the icing out of hair. His lips were pressed together and it was obvious he was trying very hard not to laugh at the predicament he found himself in. In the end, he did something she never expected. Leaning forward to drop the tissue into the wastebasket under her desk, he'd taken her hand and kissed her on the cheek. "Thank you Mrs. Marston."

"You're welcome, Lee. And congratulations."


End file.
